Recording-meter.



P. LANHAMQ RECORDING METER. APPLIUATION FILED NOV. 16, 1912.

Patent-Led Oct .14, 1913.

2 sums-sum. 1.

- P LANHAM. RECORDING METER. APPLICATION IILED NOV. 16, 1912.

Patented Oct. 14,1913.

Nxv

paning drawings, in which,

To all whom it may concern Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same. Fig.

about the stationary shaft 6 is a rotating retation by clockwork or similar driving PAUL-LANHAM, OF LANHAM, MARYLAND.

RECORDING-METER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 14,, 1913.

Application filed November 16, 1912. Serial No. 731,768.

Be it known that I, PAUL LANHAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lanham, county of Prince George, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements, in Recording-l /Ieters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

The invention has for its object to provide a simple, durable and highly efficient metering and recording apparatus, for indicating and recording the conditions of pressure and flow of fluids, and more particularly changes in such conditions, such as variations in pressure, changes in velocity in fluid media, and changes in temperature, so that the indications made upon a permanent record sheet by the apparatus will show all variations, however small, in the conditions from instant to instant.

In its broad aspect, the .invention is applicable to any measuring instrument involving the use of a manometer, thermometer, or similar apparatus employing a column of mercury or other conductive fluid, which isresponsive to changes in the pressure, flow, velocity, temperature, or otherv physical condition which it is desired to determine. i

-A practical .exemplification of the invention as applied to a fluid meter for indicating and recordin the flow and changes of velocity of fluids 15 illustrated in the accom- Fignre 1 is a plan view of the apparatus.

3 is a front. elevation thereof. Fig. 4 is a side elevation, and Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating the apparatus and the electrical cir cuits. by means of which the recording operations are effected.

Referring to the drawings, numeral 1 in-. dicates a base having secured thereto side standards 2, 2 and a back-board 3. Mount-- ed in the standard 2 for rotary movement corderdrum 4 which is given a regular romechanism, the said driving-mechanism effecting a single rotation of the drum during a specified interval of time, viz., once every twenty-four hours. In order to admit of 1 shaft .6, is notched to form locking engagement with a lug 5 secured to one standard 2, while the other end of the shaft is countersunk to receive the conical end of adjusting screw 7, which serves the purpose of centering the shaft and the drum and hold-- ing the partsaccurately in desired position. By backing off the screw 7 the drum and its shaft may be lifted out of the supporting framework, the sheet of paper or the like removed therefrom, and a new sheet supplied thereto, after which the drum is again placed in position in the frame. Cooperating with the recorder drum is a suitable marking device which is .reciprocated in a fixed path parallel with the axis of the drum adjacent the record sheet carried by the drum, as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

Mounted on the base 1 and attached to the rear face of the backboard 3 is a U-tube consisting of a hollow base 12, two legs 10 and 11, preferably of glass, and a cap piece 15. ,Within said U-tube is contained a body, of mercury a; which fills the hollow base portion 12 and extends up into the legs 10 and 11 for acertain distance. The cap 15 is provided with an intake nipple 13 which Communicates with the interior of leg 10 and a nipple 14 communicating with the leg 11. The nipples 1- and 14 are adapted to be connected by relatively small tubcs to the Pitot tube or pressure tubes of the Ven- -turi meter, which latter are in turn connectstuffing box 17 through which passes a rod 18 provided at its lower end witha sharp pointed wire 19 of platinum orthe like,-,'

adapted to make electrical contact withthe mercury in the U-tube. The upper end of the rod 18 is preferably squarein cros s section and is provided on one lateral face with 11 0 i a rack '18, which is engaged by a pinion 21,

' motor 25 mounted on ,tached to the backboard 3 of the apparatus.

linion 21 is secured to a shaft '22 journaled 1n the bracket 20, and to the other end of said shaft is secured a pinion 23 meshing v with a rack 24; which is, secured to the moving member of a small reciprocating water the front face of the backboard and rovided withhose connecting nipples 26 and 27 by means of which the fluid pressure for operating the motor is supplied to and exhausted from said motor.

The motor may be operated either .by hydraulic or pneumatic pressure, as may be found more convenient, and in fact, may be replaced by any suitable type of motor for efi'ecting a regular alternate rotation or oscillation of shaft '22 to impart a regular and uniform reciprocation of movable contact rod 18.

, Mounted on the end of shaft 22 is a relatively large pulley 28 having a grooved pcripheral edge over which runs a wire or other driving band 29 which is given one complete turn about said pulley 28 and extends in opposite directions over guide pulleys 30, 30

journaled on the upper edges of the stand-' ards 2.

Securedto the driving band or Wire 29 and sliding. upon fixed guide rods 31, 31, is a small carriage carrynig the marking device cooperating with the record sheet on the recorder drum, so arranged that, as the drivmg band or wire 29 is moved backward and forward'bythe oscillation of thepulley 28,

the marking device is caused to reciprocate {.y along guide rods 31 through a predetermined path of movement over the surface of the record sheet on the drum and parallel with the axis of said drum. The marking device consists'of a small conical reservoir lu containing ink or the like, having a minute perforation at its lower end sufiicicnt to allow the ink to flow therefrom by attrition when said reservoir 4-5 engages at its perforated endwith the sheet of paper, but. it will prevent any flow of thesinlr when the reservoir or pen is movable armature ii of an electro-magnet :10, which is mounted upon an insulating base 43 provided with suitable runners 13 engaging the guide rods 31, said magnet being sobase 43 by means of a strap or yoke 41.

lifted from the papen. -Said reservoir or pen 15 is attached. to the treine point of the wlre iggemerges from tne mercury and breaks the circuit at the sur- From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that when the apparatus is in op eration the motor 25 will impart a regular reciprocation to the bar 18 constituting the movable contact cooperating with the mercury column in the leg 11 of the U-tube and will also impart a synchronous reciprocation of the marking device with respect to the record sheet carried by the drum 4, which in turn is given a uniform rotation by its clock-work or other suitable driving means, so that if the marking device were permitted'to remain in contact with the paper on the drum, it would produce. a regular series of spaced substantially parallel lines or ordinates practically perpendicular to the lateral edges of the record sheet.

In order to render the markings or indications on the record sheet accurately indicative of the flow or change of velocity of the fluid to be measured, the following electrical accessories are provided. A common electric battery 50 is provided to supply the energy for actuating the several electrical controlling devices, which in the present in stance comprise the elcctro-magnet 4:0 con-- trolling the marking device and a relay 56 which controls and regulates the operation of the magnet' ld, The circuit of the electro-magnet from the battery is normally closed 56 by way of the followingz-ba'ttery 50, wire 60 through magnet 10, wire 59, armature 58, wire 52, back to the battery. lVhen the platinum. wire on the end of rod 18 engages the surface of the mercury, a circuit through the relay 56 from the battery 50 is closed at one point and the said circuit through the relay is completed after the rod 18 is moved downward for a predetermined distance, preferably to the end of its downward stroke, at a normally open contact 70, which adapted to be engaged and closed by an insulated abutment 5 1 carried by the upper end. of the rod 18, the complete circuit through the relay being as follows from battery 50, wire 51, mercury .92, contact point 19, the rod'18, wire 61, through relay 56 wire 55, contact 70, wire 53, back to the battery. The passage of the current through relay 56 causes the armature'58 thereof to be attracted, thereby breaking the circuit to the marker magnet 40 andv permitting its armature to fall, thereby bringing pen d5 into contact with the record sheet on the drum. As soon as this circuithas been completed and the relay 56 energized, an auxiliary circuit is closedto retain the relay energized while the contact wire 19 of rod 18 remains in the-mercury and until the exface of the mercury This auxiliary circuit is as follows-2 fro-m battery 50, wire 51, mercury :0, contact wire 19, rod 18, wire 61,

by the armature 58 of the rel y 1 through the relay, mature" 58, wire 52, back to. the battery, f During theupwardmovementof the rod 18, before the wire 19 has emerged from the 5, mercury, the abutment 54 disengages the upper member of contact 70 which immedi- ':''ately assumes its normally open condition.

Under these circumstances, it will be apparcut that so long as the end of the wire 19- mg-o'arried, by rod 18'. is out of, contact with t hemer ury in the U-tube, the relay circuit igigbroken' intwo points, the relay deenerand its armatureis retracted to close the circuit from the batter'ybO through the m f jijt 4'0 which holds the surface of the .cerder drum. As soon as iergi ed, however, first by the win the mercury w, and second, by the closing ofthe'normally open contact 70, the circuit *tomagnet -*-is broken at relay armature 58 the pen away paper on the rethe relay 56 is enby.the closing of its cirand is maintained broken until the instant oi the emersionof 'e extreme pointof the as was 193 from the mercury, and during this ,period of time, the pen 45 will be in contact with the-record" sheet on the drum 4! and.

dication being effected by the emersion of vti-re 19- from the column of mercury V which efiects a sharp instantaneous break of th'erelay circuit with a consequent instan- 'taneou's closure of the magnet circuit 40 and a retraction of the pen 45 from the paper. [Inasmuch as the height of the mercury in 11 varies with the rate of flow to measured, 'it will be apparent that the ordinates marked by the pen 45 on the record sheet will vary in length exactly in I 'roportion tothe variations in the rate of to be measured- When there is no flow through the conduit, the pressures ex- .erted through the respectivetubesconnected to nipples 13' and 14 will be the same and the mercury'i-n'the two legs 10 and 11 will be at the same level, which level will be above that reached by the lowest point in the 'tlavel of the platinum wire 19 carried by ltodi 18', so that the circuit to the relay 56 will-be closed and an operation of the en -mechanism obtained thereby plotting a ine on the chart, the upper termination'of which will determine the zero for the chart. Any

(5 flow through thecircuit causes the mercury wire 57, through relay ar-V the record sheet,-

imniersion of the wire 19.

and the marking pen 45', line or ordinate marked to in leg 11, so that the wire 19 will on age and penetrate the body of mercury a lstance exactly equal to the rise in height of the latter plus the distance which the wire 19 plunges'below the surface of the mercury when the latter is at its zero or lowest position, and this contact of the wire 19 with the mercury column, together with the" closure of the normally open contact 70, will close the circuitof the relay and cause the pen 45 to mark a line or ordinate on the period of closure of the relay circuitbeingexactly commensurate with the travel of the wire 19- during the interval between the closing of the normally open contact and the emersion of the end .of wire 19 from the mercury column. -This "will result in a series of parallel ordinates starting from a-given base line or datum line determined by the time of closure'of contact" 70, relative to the reciprocation of rod 18 and pen 45, and terminating the instant the end' of wire-19 leaves the mercury. The termination of each ordinate, therefore, indi-. cates the rate of flow of the fluid to be measured at a given instant and the variations in the lengths of the ordinates, or the terminations of the respective ordinates will indicate-the variations in the flow from instant to instant, so that there will be shown on the recorder sheet a series of parallel ordinates, the outer ends or ternnnations of which define the exact variations in the rate offlow in the conduit.

An essential advantage of this arrangement and mode of operation resides in the ,fact that the effective indication on the record sheet, to Wit, the termination of the successive ordinates is produced by the instantaneous breaking of the circuit of the relay 56 and the instantaneous energization of the magnet 40 when and at the instant the hue point of platinumwirew breaks contact iwith the surface of the mercury :20. By making the effective indication dependent upon of the circuit between the the Wire 19 and the mercury the breakin sharp ,end 0? it is found possible to record differences in flow which could not be noted by any other practical form of recording mechanism. Furthermore, by making the indications of the variations in the form of relatively dark and sharply defined ordinates, closely spaced, a clear, legible and permanent recordmay be effected.

The; closure of the normally open contact 70 may be effected at appropriate intervals by any of themoving parts of the apparatus, and it is not essential that such a closure be made by the rod '18. It is desirable, however, that the said contact 70 be closed for an instant during some portion ofthe upward strolte of the rod 18 varying from the extreme-lower limit of the 'stroketo ,just be- .indication and recur-(lot very fore the emersion or the wire 19 from the mercury, so that the corresponding movement of the recorder pen may produce markings in the form of ordinates on the record sheet starting from a fixed base line, which is determined-by the closing of the contact 70 resulting in the energization of relay 56 and the deenergization of magnet 4-0.

As indicated, the apparatus although simple in construction and practically im-' mune to derangemout, is exceptionally dclivcatc, and accurate in its results, giving clear slight (.li'ti'erences in the rate of flow which it is desired to measure.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a fluid meter -for indicating the flov and changes of velocity oi. flowing fluids, it will be understood that it is not limited to such use, but is applicable to the accurate measuring and rccordlng of other ,conditions and changes of condition of physicalmatter, whicl1 is capable of loei'rnc,

indicated primarilyby variations in the conducting column of a i'nanomcter tube, then mometer, or similar apparatus, such. as is commonly employed for indicating changes in velocity of fluids, changes in pressure of liquid or gaseous media, and changes in tom able into and out of said liquid column in synchronism with said marking device, and

electrical mechanism controlled by the movemeat of said contact for operating said marking device.

3. A meter coin 'nfising a recorder including a moving record sheet and a marking device reciprocating across said sheet, a columriof liquid variable with the variations in the force to be measured, a contact movable periodically into and out of said liquid column, and electrical means operable during; the movement of the contact from a point of innnersion below the surface of the liquid column and the point of emcrsion of said contact for effecting an. actuation of said recorder.

4:. i1 meter comprising an clecdicallycoir ductive column of liquid variable. with the variations in the force to be measured, a re corder, an electric circuit including the liquid column gout-rolling the recorder, and

operating a contact in said circuit positively movable into and out of said liquid column and operable upon leaving the liquid in said column. to actuate the recorder.

A meter comprising an electrically conductive column of liquid variable with the variations in the force to be measured, a recorder, an electric circuit normally retracting the record making element of the recorder, a second circuit including the liquid column, a contact in said second circuit movable into and out of said liquid column and operable upon leaving the liquid in said column to actuate the recorder.

6. A meter. comprising a rccorderincludmg a moving record sheet and a marking device moving; across said sheet, a column of liquid variable with the variations in the force to be measured, a contact movable into and out of said liquid column, means for moving said'contact and said markingde: vice in substantial synchronism, acircuit said marking device, a relay circuit including'the liquid column and the movable contact controlling the operating circuit of the marking; dcvice, a normally open contact in said re av circuit,and means actuated by a moving part of the apparatus to ClOSdSflld contact.

7. A meter comprising a recorder including' a movingrecord sheet and a marking device moving across said sheet, a column of liquid variable with the. variations in the force to be measured, a contact movable into and out of said liquid column, means for moving said contact and said marking device in substantial synchronism, a circuit ineluding an electro-magnet normally retracting; said marking device, a relay circuit including the movable contact and the liquid column controlling the first mentioned circuit, an auxiliary circuit including a nor-- mally open contact controlling the relay circuit and means to close said open contact during the movement of the movable contact. I

8.. A meter comprising a. recorder including a moving record sheet and a marking device moving across said sheet, a column of liquid variable with the variations in the force to be measured, a contact movable into and out of said liquid. column, means for moving said contact and said marking device in substantial synchronism, a circuit including an electro-magnct normally retract-- ing said marking device, a relay having an armature nori'nally closing the magnet circuit, a circuit through the relay including the movable contact and the fluid column, and a branch circuit including a normally open contact to close the relay circuit, and means operated by a moving part of the apparatus to close said open contact.

9. .51. meter comprising a recorder including a rotating record sheet drum, a continuously reciprocating marking device cooperating with said drum, a magnet controlling said mar-kin device, a circuit therefor, a relay controlllng the magnet circuit, a circuit for said relay, and means operated in accordance with variations in the force to be measured to close the'relay circuit.

10. A meter comprising a rotating record sheet drum, a reciprocating marking device cooperating with said drum, a magnet controlling said marking device, a circuit therefor, a relay controlling the magnet circuit, a circuit for said relay, a column of liquid variable with the variations in the force to be measured, a contact movable into and out of said liquid column and included with the liquid column in the relay circuit, auxiliary contacts within the relay circuit, and means for impartin the required movements to the marking device, the movable contact and the auxiliary contacts.

In testimony whereof I al'lix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

V PAUL LANHAM.

Witnesses l ARTHUR L. BRYANT, CHAS. J OiNEILL. 

